Phoenix Area Stadium and Arena News

[combusean]

Starting this cause it's taking over the main Phoenix thread.

There will be more news coming out until the council votes January 23rd, so post it here please.

[DesertRay]

Originally Posted by combusean

Starting this cause it's taking over the main Phoenix thread.

There will be more news coming out until the council votes January 23rd, so post it here please.

Thank. You.

[ASU Diablo]

Thank You!!! RO2 development plans got lost in the weeds.

With pending Coyotes news, Chase Field updates, and pending PHX Rising MLS decision, how about a main thread for all Phoenix Metro Area Arena Updates/News??

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by ASU Diablo

Thank You!!! RO2 development plans got lost in the weeds.

With pending Coyotes news, Chase Field updates, and pending PHX Rising MLS decision, how about a main thread for all Phoenix Metro Area Arena Updates/News??

Probably not a bad idea..hopefully the Rising get in the discussion somewhere. Of course that would actually be positive!

[fawd]

Last rant for today on the subject (possibly)! Reinforcing my dislike for Robert's reporting... She is the one whom 'broke' the story that Sarver threatened the Phoenix City Council last night.



Roberts stated specifically in her article that Robert Sarver told an unnamed Council member that he would move the team to Seattle or Las Vegas. Come to find out AZCentral has revised her article an hour ago (quietly of course):


"UPDATE: The council member on Thursday clarified the above quote, saying that Sarver didn't mention Seattle or Las Vegas by name during their conversation but that he did make it clear the team wants to leave if the deal is not approved."


I hate to defend Sarver here... but it appears he never mentioned Seattle or Las Vegas. He also did not say the team would 'absolutely go' if they didn't get a renovated arena. Simply that the Suns would explore all options including leaving (which was already known information, obviously).




And to top it all off, AZCentral removed all of the Suns reporting from their homepage when this news broke a hour ago instead of reporting the mistake. Hit job. I wish I could say I was surprised!

[fawd]

Article: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opin...ki/2287692002/

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by fawd

Last rant for today on the subject (possibly)! Reinforcing my dislike for Robert's reporting... She is the one whom 'broke' the story that Sarver threatened the Phoenix City Council last night.



Roberts stated specifically in her article that Robert Sarver told an unnamed Council member that he would move the team to Seattle or Las Vegas. Come to find out AZCentral has revised her article an hour ago (quietly of course):


"UPDATE: The council member on Thursday clarified the above quote, saying that Sarver didn't mention Seattle or Las Vegas by name during their conversation but that he did make it clear the team wants to leave if the deal is not approved."


I hate to defend Sarver here... but it appears he never mentioned Seattle or Las Vegas. He also did not say the team would 'absolutely go' if they didn't get a renovated arena. Simply that the Suns would explore all options including leaving (which was already known information, obviously).




And to top it all off, AZCentral removed all of the Suns reporting from their homepage when this news broke a hour ago instead of reporting the mistake. Hit job. I wish I could say I was surprised!

Laurie Roberts has made it pretty clear right from the start she is not only anti-Suns, but anti-basketball in general. Terrible reporter and doesn't even report her sources. This is nothing more than hearsay at this point...not that I'm defending Sarver either. But Robert's definitely has an agenda against the Suns.

[Obadno]

LOL at the sarver video. The NBA and team board must have lost their shit at the rumor mill flying around yesterday.

Also old lady roasts city council about Sarver being a cheap bitch: https://streamable.com/lzf3j

[somethingfast]

the Sarver statements are pretty troubling. sounds like walking back to me. man, i really wish i cared about the Suns and their plight...but it's just really hard to care about anything Sarver is involved with. he's been out of his depth for a long time. it's never any one person's fault but he is the common denominator in the Suns ever-increasing performance issues and the apathy within the community. far cry from '06 let alone the glory days of '88 to '95ish. sad.

[exit2lef]

Laurie Roberts isn't a reporter. She's a cranky columnist. I often agree with her, especially on educational issues, but she doesn't know how and when to take a break from outrage. When you're mad about everything all the time, it's hard to be taken seriously when anger is genuinely the appropriate response. No doubt there are aspects of the arena deal that need to be re-examined, but I suspect Roberts would find a way to be opposed no matter how it is restructured.

[PHX31]

A couple things I'm curious about:

1. What is the Suns current lease like at Talking Stick? I'm assuming, since I heard the Suns have paid for maintenance and minor updates, and since the Suns run the booking for other events (again, this is what I've heard), I think they basically get free or a reduced/below market rent.

2. If the Suns get a big break on rent, then it seems as though they should foot the bill for a majority or all of the renovations that are being talked about, and then again have free/reduced rent. Someone mentioned that as an owner of a building (The City owns Talking Stick in this case) or a house, it's the owner/landlord that is responsible for repairs/maintenance/updates. I agree with this, unless, there is some kind of free or major break on the rent payment and as part of the lease the tenant pays.

3. I have also heard that the money coming from the City is already ear-marked money for sports and arena type related uses, by way of hotel and rental car tax dollars. I'm totally fine with this "public" money going to pay for it's intended purpose (updating the arena). People are making it seem like normal people are going to have their taxes raised to pay for it, or money should go to education instead (maybe it should, but that's not the intended use for this earmarked money, so a lot of things would have to fundamentally change).

4. I'm OK with the City and Suns current deal to each pay for some (I don't know the details, ie my #1 above, so I'm not sure about the best percentage of each).

5. Sarver Sucks.

6. I'm a long-time Suns fan since the late 80s. As a kid I can remember listening to Al McCoy on the radio for games and my first trip to see them play was at Veterans Memorial. KJ is probably my all-time favorite Sun, Shawn Marion (my screenname), Mark West, Eddie Johnson, obviously Nash, are some others. I hate to see them in this state that Sarver has brought them to, but I'd hate to see them ever leave (that's not going to happen).

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by PHX31

3. I have also heard that the money coming from the City is already ear-marked money for sports and arena type related uses, by way of hotel and rental car tax dollars. I'm totally fine with this "public" money going to pay for it's intended purpose (updating the arena). People are making it seem like normal people are going to have their taxes raised to pay for it, or money should go to education instead (maybe it should, but that's not the intended use for this earmarked money, so a lot of things would have to fundamentally change).

What I call the "fungible funds fallacy" is a favorite argument in opposition to whatever project someone happens to dislike, whether it's the arena renovations, light rail expansion, or anything else. Usually, education or homeless veterans is claimed to be the more worthy usage of the money, even though those uses would be outside the spirit, if not the letter, of the original purpose the funds were raised for.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by PHX31

4. I'm OK with the City and Suns current deal to each pay for some (I don't know the details, ie my #1 above, so I'm not sure about the best percentage of each).

5. Sarver Sucks.

I'd feel better about the deal if the contributions from the city and the team were reversed. The city might own the building, but considering what/how the Suns are currently valued (over $1 billion?), they (Sarver...) should be the one footing the majority of the renovation as the primary tenant and not force the city to bear the primary financial burden.

Also, if there's any way they can make the acoustics better, I'm all for it. I've seen several concerts there (Rush, three times in 2011, 2012 and 2015) and the sound quality was awful. Not sure if that's just something that happens in all arenas or if it's something specifically wrong with America West Arena?

[somethingfast]

Originally Posted by PHX31

KJ is probably my all-time favorite Sun, Shawn Marion (my screenname), Mark West, Eddie Johnson, obviously Nash, are some others. I hate to see them in this state that Sarver has brought them to, but I'd hate to see them ever leave (that's not going to happen).

Right there with ya man - KJ is my hands-down all-time fave Sun player and probably second fave NBA player ever behind Jordan. Love that dude.

[PHX31]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

I'd feel better about the deal if the contributions from the city and the team were reversed. The city might own the building, but considering what/how the Suns are currently valued (over $1 billion?), they (Sarver...) should be the one footing the majority of the renovation as the primary tenant and not force the city to bear the primary financial burden.

That would be nice if he would just do it out of the goodness of his heart (however cold black and tiny it is), but I can't blame him for not. It's business and I think most everyone here tries to pay the least amount for anything in life in general.

[stutteringpunk]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

What I call the "fungible funds fallacy" is a favorite argument in opposition to whatever project someone happens to dislike, whether it's the arena renovations, light rail expansion, or anything else. Usually, education or homeless veterans is claimed to be the more worthy usage of the money, even though those uses would be outside the spirit, if not the letter, of the original purpose the funds were raised for.

That's what's rubbed me the wrong about all of this. I hate Sarver as much as anyone, but it really feels like the city is walking back on something that was negotiated when America West was originally built, all for the sake of political optics. Not to mention, if the Suns do move elsewhere in the valley, it wouldn't change the fact that the arena still needs to be renovated. The city would then have to foot the entire bill instead of just a portion.

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by stutteringpunk

That's what's rubbed me the wrong about all of this. I hate Sarver as much as anyone, but it really feels like the city is walking back on something that was negotiated when America West was originally built, all for the sake of political optics. Not to mention, if the Suns do move elsewhere in the valley, it wouldn't change the fact that the arena still needs to be renovated. The city would then have to foot the entire bill instead of just a portion.

Bingo. Also, I didn't catch last night's game. Was there any crowd protesting being shouted at Sarver or was that a complete fail?

[TJPHXskyscraperfan]

Originally Posted by RonnieFoos

Bingo. Also, I didn't catch last night's game. Was there any crowd protesting being shouted at Sarver or was that a complete fail?

I couldn't hear anything on TV but we actually played well last night and the defense looked pretty damn good. The Suns are professionals at beating the Mavs like the Cards are at beating the 49ers,lol. They talked about the issues for a short time during inside the NBA. Charles said it would be a travesty if the Suns left Phoenix and said Sarver should be worried about putting a better team on the floor before he should be worried about getting money from his city. Understandable statement as I agree with Chuck often but we need to do both!

[CrestedSaguaro]

Only if Sarver would get off his high-horse and work a deal with the City AND the Coyotes. The taxpayers would more likely be onboard with this and could probably even get more funds to finance an even larger renovation as I'm sure the Coyotes would be willing to add some dollars. One hundred mill from each would really be a stellar renovation of Talking Stick.

[CrestedSaguaro]

He’s so tight, he squeaks when he walks.

...and there you have it

https://www.12news.com/article/news/...8-df91f6d4d2d5